Blurt Beans to the Rescue

Hey there!

We’ve all had chatty classes before, but a few years ago my kiddos were having an even harder time than I was used to.  I had tried my regular go-to strategies and they just weren’t working. So I started doing some research to find the support that I needed… I discovered BLURT BEANS!

What you need…

1. A container to hold your beans in waiting or lost beans
2. A clear container to show growth/goals/incentives
3. Beans
4. Containers for desk to hold the beans ( I bought stackable pill containers from the Dollar Tree and put wall Tac ‘N Stik under each of them to hold them on the desks.)

I made sure to let kids know that a busy body/body noises are like blurting too (clapping, clicking our mouths, snapping fingers, etc.) It’s not just words that can interrupt someone.  Breaking that down and being specific was huge for my students.  Also, having a child with Autism reminds me how important it is to fully explain expectations.

The stories I chose were:

“Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse”
“Interrupting Chicken”
“My Mouth is a Volcano”
“Lacey Walker, NONSTOP TALKER”

After two days of focused teaching about the effects of blurting on those around us and our learning, I decided to introduce Blurt Beans.

Implementing Blurt Beans

1. I put 4 beans in each kiddos blurt bin each morning.

2. Every time they have a blurt I hold the sign language letter “b” close to me, make eye contact and the kids go and put a blurt bean in the discard container. I have also quietly approached kids if they are not paying attention (ha ha)

3. At the end of the day I have all the kids come put their Blurt Beans in the Incentive Jar.

Incentives for Blurt Beans

I chose 4 incentives which I will change from time to time.

1. 10 minutes of extra recess
2. 20 minutes of free time
3. 30 minutes of extra recess
4. Popcorn & movie party!

Make that first incentive pretty easy to achieve. We earned our first 10 minutes of bonus recess within two days! The 10 minutes I lost in instruction time for the incentive will be nothing compared to the time I will be gaining by intentionally teaching about being a respectful listener. PLUS… we need to find positives in every situation if we can!

I wish you the best of luck helping your nuggets to be successful & respectful classroom members.

As always, feel free to reach out to me with questions, suggestions, or if you just want to connect.